Leap of Faith
by TheHiddenWriter
Summary: Katara is tired of boys breaking up with her, and doesn't want to date anymore. So her best friend, Aang decides to teach her a lesson about risks... One-Shot. Rated T for safety.


**I decided to take a risk with my writing, and make an ATLA fan-fic that had nothing to do with the storyline of ATLA. This all takes place in a modern, more realistic setting. Aang and Katara are in high school. Aang is 16 years old, Katara is 18 years old. I hope you enjoy this special short fan-fic I made. Hey, I thought it was a good idea with my writing. Speaking of risks, that's what this fan-fic is about...**

Katara was depressed. Another boyfriend had just broken up with her, after she gave her heart away to him. She didn't want to feel like this anymore, so she decided to give up on dating guys. She walked to her locker and opened it. She hated this feeling inside her.

She suddenly saw her best friend, Aang, walking down the hall. They had been friends for a long time, despite their age difference. He was suppose to be two grades under her, but because he was a part of the global peace commission, he was allowed to be bumped up two grades, and be considered an 18 year old in the eyes of society.

Aang walked up to her and smiled.

"Hey. What's going on?"

Katara sighed and got her backpack out of her locker.

"My stupid boyfriend dumped me."

"Ouch. I'm sorry that happened to you Katara."

"Yeah… me too."

She shut her locker and put her backpack on. She then started to walk with Aang down the hallway.

"I'm done with dating guys. I hate feeling so vulnerable."

"Now, don't start saying stuff like that. It's ok that you're feeling like this right now, your hurt. But everyone needs someone special in their life." Said Aang.

"Not me. I'm not risking my heart for some guy anymore."

"But Katara, everyone needs to take risks. Only then can we see how great life really is."

"Aang, listen to me carefully. Risks…are…stupid. You end up hurt every time. I mean, look at Sokka! He risks that money betting on sports."

"That's different. Sokka has bad luck… and the guys he bets on stink…"

"True, but that still doesn't change my opinion. Risks stink, and I'm not giving my heart out to a guy ever again."

Aang suddenly had a crazy idea. He grinned widely.

"I hate when you have that grin…" Said Katara.

"I'm going to take a risk and show you that risks are a good thing. Just give me one minute to make two phone calls. I'll meet you by the car."

Aang ran down the hallway to make his phone call. Katara sighed and walked to the parking lot. She waited by Aang's car for about 10 minutes, and then he came back, smiling. He unlocked the car, and they both got in it.

"I still can't believe you got your license at age 16…" Said Katara.

"Ok, then you can try driving 50 miles to stop 2 feuding cities from destroying each other… every 10 days." Replied Aang.

"Ok, Ok. I get it."

The two drove for about an hour. As they were getting closer, Katara was getting more curious.

"Where exactly are we going?" Asked Katara.

"The only place where I can show you that risks are a good thing." Replied Aang.

He pulled the car up into a parking spot. They were right in front of a small airport.

"Why did you stop the car…"

Katara realized what was going on and looked at Aang. He had a giant grin on his face.

"No."

"Oh come on, Katara. It will be fun."

"Read my lips. No… way."

"Oh come on Katara."

"This is dangerous and stupid. I want to go home, now."

Aang shut off the ignition and got out of the car.

"I said I didn't want to do this." Said Katara.

"I know, but I want to, and I'm the guy with the keys to the car. So you can either stay in the car until after I'm done, or you can come with me."

Aang started walking towards the airport.

'3…2…1…'

He heard Katara get out of the car and started walking towards him.

"Aang. Your taking me home now."

Suddenly, Katara heard the car start up again. Toph was in the car, and started to drive off. Katara spun around and faced Aang, who was grinning.

"I never said there wasn't a spare set of keys."

"Tell Toph to come back with the car, and take me home!"

"She'll come back with the car, after I call her back from finishing my jump."

"Fine. I'll just stay out here in the parking lot then."

"Ok. Have fun!"

He started walking towards the airport again.

'3…2…1…'

Katara walked past him, grabbed his hand, and dragged him into the airport, mumbling to her self about how ridiculous this was. Aang just grinned the entire time.

Inside the airport, Katara was putting on a blue jumpsuit and a harness. She really didn't want to go skydiving, but she knew Aang wasn't going to give up until he got her to do it. The only way she could win would be to outsmart him some how. She made two hairloopies in her hair, like she did when she was 14, and then walked over to the airplane.

She waited for her tandem instructor to come, but he never showed up. Aang wasn't there either.

'He better have not made me do this alone, or I swear…'

She then saw Aang walking over to her. She then noticed something.

"Aang, why are you wearing that para…"

She looked at Aang, who was grinning again.

"I thought this was your first time!" Said Katara.

"I just said I wanted to go. I never said it was my first time. What? You don't trust me?"

"After everything you've done today? Not really."

"Look, at least just come up in the plane with me. Please."

Katara thought about it for a moment, and knew if she said no, Aang would just keep begging her to go on the plane.

"Ugh… fine."

They both got on, and the plane began to fly up into the air. While it was rising in altitude, Katara tried to figure out a way to outsmart Aang, so he wouldn't make her jump. She then got an idea.

"Ok Aang. You want me to jump with you? Fine. I will."

"Alright!"

He hooked up Katara's harness to his parachute. They both sat down and waited for the plane to hit the right altitude. When it hit about 12,000 feet, Aang was given the signal from the pilot that they could jump. But when he tried to move them towards the plane door, Katara didn't budge.

"Nope. I'm not moving. I'm older than you, which means I weigh more than you. The only way your going to get me to move is by hurting me, and I know you aren't going to do that. Right?"

Aang frowned. He didn't think of that.

"Ok… you won. We won't jump."

"Good."

"I just wanted to take a risk, and show you how great life would be if you took risks, and let your heart feel what life truly is about."

"Nice sob speech. Tell the pilot to land, now."

"Plus, I really wanted to tell you about this guy, who wanted to go out with you, and wouldn't dare to hurt you, ever. But whatever…"

"What guy?"

"Oh, you wouldn't care. You said you were done with guys."

"Yeah, but it wouldn't hurt to find out who likes me."

Aang noticed Katara no longer was holding her weight down to prevent the two of them from moving. He slowly scooted them towards the plane door, as he continued to distract her.

"He's in your grade. And he's had a crush on you for a little while."

They were right near the plane door. Aang slowly put his hand on the handle without Katara realizing what he was doing.

"Really?" Asked Katara.

"Yeah. In fact, you might know him."

"What's his name?"

"Turnher A Round."

Katara turned around and saw Aang's hand on the plane door's handle.

"Oh you son of a…"

Aang pulled the handle and the door flew open. He then pushed both of them out of the plane, and they began to freefall. At first, she screamed in fear, but after a few moments, she began to scream in excitement. She was actually having fun. After a minute of freefall, Aang pulled the ripcord, and their parachute opened.

"Aang, that was amazing! That was the most fun I ever…"

She looked at Aang, who was grinning.

"Well?" Asked Aang.

"Ok, you were right. Risks are fun."

"Do me a favor, and turn back around."

Katara turned her head back and looked at the ground below. It was all so beautiful and peaceful. Her heart was still pounding rapidly. It all felt exactly like when she was dating. She then finally realized what was going on.

"You did this to show me that I should never stop searching for that one special guy, didn't you?"

"Katara, just because one guy was stupid enough to let you go, doesn't mean you should block away your heart from the rest of the world. Dating is just like skydiving. You have to take the leap of faith first, and fall for someone. And when you find that special person, love will open up, and you'll be able to see how beautiful life is with that person, just like your seeing how beautiful life is right now."

Katara smiled.

"How long have you practiced saying that?"

"Since we first got into the car."

They eventually landed on the ground. They took off their jumpsuits, and Aang called Toph to bring the car back.

"See, now I'll bring you home." Said Aang.

"Wait… I want to take one more leap of faith."

"Katara, the airport is closing now. If you want to go skydiving again, we can go tommorw…"

"No, I don't mean that."

"Then what do you mean by…"

Katara grinned, and then quickly kissed Aang for a moment, causing him to blush on the spot. She finally caught him off-guard. The stopped kissing him for a moment, and spoke.

"That was for the guy who took a leap of faith, and kept trying to pull his rip-cord. All he needed was a partner to help open his chute."

Aang had no idea what to say. Katara was now the one who had the element of surprise.

"Want to go out for dinner?" Asked Aang.

"Sure. Why not?" Replied Katara.

The duo started walking back towards the car.

"But don't ever do this again." Said Katara.

"I won't." Said Aang.

"Seriously, If you attempt to take me bungee jumping, if you ever propose to me, to teach me a lesson about marriage, I will take you down."

"Oh don't worry. I wouldn't dream of doing that…" Said Aang.

They kept walking towards the car, as Aang secretly kept his fingers crossed behind his back…

**Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it. For all the people who have author alerts, I'm still working on new chapters for those other two fan-fics. They'll be up in a few days. Thanks again for reading!**


End file.
